Why not score casinos out of 100?

Because the noise floor on a 100-point scale exceeds the meaningful differences. A 0-10 scale with one decimal lines up with what we can actually distinguish.

How We Test Casinos — The GambleDragon Methodology

Every casino review on GambleDragon comes from a fixed 12-point test. We do not eyeball, vibe-check, or copy from press releases. The same procedure is applied to every brand, whether it pays us £200 per signup or £20 — that consistency is the whole point of a methodology.

This page explains every datapoint, what it scores, and how the final rating is calculated. If our numbers ever do not match what you experience, write to editor@gambledragon.com and we will re-test.

The 12 datapoints

#	Datapoint	Weight	What we measure
1	Licence verification	15%	Licence number checked against regulator database
2	Withdrawal speed	15%	Median hours from request to bank arrival, ≥5 timed tests
3	Payment methods	10%	Count + relevance for target locale
4	Customer support response	10%	Median minutes to first useful reply on live chat + email
5	Terms & Conditions readability	8%	Flesch reading-ease + flagged predatory clauses
6	RTP transparency	7%	Publishes per-game RTP linked to provider sheets
7	Complaint handling	7%	Public-record disputes resolved within 30 days
8	Deposit limit tools	6%	Daily / weekly / monthly + cooling-off availability
9	Self-exclusion path	6%	GAMSTOP / Cruks / regional registry integration
10	KYC duration	6%	Median hours from document upload to verification
11	Mobile UX	5%	Lighthouse score + manual flow audit on iOS + Android
12	Game library	5%	Count, provider count, slot/live/table balance

Final rating is a weighted score on a 0-10 scale, displayed to one decimal place. We round honestly — 8.45 becomes 8.5, 8.44 becomes 8.4.

Step-by-step: how we test a casino

Step 1 — Licence verification (15% weight)

We do not trust the logo in the footer. We take the stated licence number and look it up in the regulator’s public database:

UK: Gambling Commission Public Register
Malta: MGA Licensee Register
Gibraltar: Gibraltar Licensing Authority
Curaçao: GCB licensee list (newer 2024+ direct licences)
Ontario: iGO registered operators

If the licence number does not appear, or the registered company name does not match what the site claims, the casino fails this datapoint outright and we will not publish a review until it is resolved.

Step 2 — Withdrawal speed (15% weight)

We deposit a small amount (typically £20-50), play through it within the wagering requirement (or skip the bonus entirely if testing base flow), and request a withdrawal. Then we time it.

Five timed tests, minimum. We measure two intervals separately:

Processing time — from request submission to “processed” status
Bank-rail time — from “processed” to funds arriving in the receiving account (varies by method)

The reported figure is the median total time across at least five tests with the same payment method, on different days of the week. Faster casinos in this test typically clear within 4 hours; slower ones can take 48-72 hours even on instant-rail e-wallets.

Step 3 — Payment methods (10% weight)

We count methods relevant to the target locale, not the global total. For a UK review, “supports MasterCard” no longer counts (UKGC banned credit cards in April 2020), but Open Banking, PayPal, and Apple Pay do. For Canada, Interac e-Transfer is mandatory for a top rating. For Ireland, Revolut and Trustly are differentiators.

Step 4 — Customer support response (10% weight)

We send three queries through each available channel (live chat, email, phone where present), at three different times of day, with three different complexity levels: a simple bonus question, a verification question, and a payment-rejection question. Median time to first useful reply (not “we will look into it”) is recorded.

A typical top-tier casino responds on live chat within 90 seconds and on email within 6 hours. Lower-tier brands can take 24-48 hours even on chat.

Step 5 — Terms & Conditions readability (8% weight)

We pull the full bonus T&Cs and the general T&Cs, run them through a Flesch reading-ease test, and flag predatory clauses such as:

Maximum cash-out caps below 5x deposit
Withdrawal voiding on “irregular play patterns” with no definition
Bonus expiry under 14 days
KYC required after first withdrawal request only (a stalling tactic)
Currency conversion fees not disclosed at deposit

Each flag is a -1 point deduction on this datapoint.

Step 6 — RTP transparency (7% weight)

A trustworthy casino publishes per-game RTP and links to the provider’s official RTP sheet (NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Play’n GO, etc.). A trustworthy casino does not silently switch slots to a lower-RTP version (many providers offer 88% / 92% / 96% variants of the same title — the lower ones are what unscrupulous operators install).

We sample 10 popular slots and cross-check the on-site RTP against the provider’s published value.

Step 7 — Complaint handling (7% weight)

We pull public-record disputes from AskGamblers, Casino.Guru, and Trustpilot for the past 12 months. We measure two things:

Volume per active player (proxied via SimilarWeb traffic data)
Resolution rate within 30 days

Top-tier casinos resolve over 85% of public disputes within 30 days. Below 60% is a red flag.

Step 8 — Deposit limit tools (6% weight)

The casino must offer daily, weekly, and monthly deposit limits, settable before the first deposit. Cooling-off periods (24h to 6 weeks) and session-time alerts add to the score. UKGC-licensed casinos are mandated to provide these, but the UX varies wildly.

Step 9 — Self-exclusion path (6% weight)

The casino must integrate with the locale’s national self-exclusion registry:

UK: GAMSTOP
Netherlands: Cruks
Ireland: National voluntary scheme (varies)
Canada (Ontario): Self-Exclusion Program via iGaming Ontario
New Zealand: Operator-level self-exclusion

We test the self-exclusion form ourselves on a throwaway account.

Step 10 — KYC duration (6% weight)

We submit standard KYC documents (passport + utility bill + selfie) on the same day as account creation and time how long verification takes. Top-tier casinos verify within 6 hours during business hours. Slow brands can take 5-7 days, which is a common withdrawal-stalling tactic.

Step 11 — Mobile UX (5% weight)

We run Google Lighthouse on the live mobile site (logged-in) and capture:

Performance score
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Total Blocking Time (TBT)
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

We then manually run through the deposit, play, and withdrawal flow on both iOS Safari and Android Chrome.

Step 12 — Game library (5% weight)

Total games, count of providers, balance of slots / live dealer / table games / instant-win / scratchcards. A top-tier casino has 2,000+ games from 30+ providers, balanced across categories. A poorly stocked casino may show 800 games but they are all from the same two unknown providers — a sign of a turnkey white-label without curation.

How the final rating is calculated

Each datapoint is scored 0-10 (with detailed sub-scoring guides in our internal rubric). The weighted sum is the final rating.

For example, a casino that scores:

Licence (15%): 10
Withdrawal speed (15%): 8
Payment methods (10%): 9
Support (10%): 7
T&Cs (8%): 8
RTP transparency (7%): 9
Complaint handling (7%): 8
Deposit limits (6%): 10
Self-exclusion (6%): 10
KYC (6%): 7
Mobile UX (5%): 8
Games (5%): 9

…would receive: (10×0.15) + (8×0.15) + (9×0.10) + (7×0.10) + (8×0.08) + (9×0.07) + (8×0.07) + (10×0.06) + (10×0.06) + (7×0.06) + (8×0.05) + (9×0.05) = 8.6 / 10.

When we re-test

Quarterly on every operator in our top-50 best-of rankings
Immediately if a reader reports a withdrawal issue
Immediately if the operator changes licence jurisdiction, ownership, or payment processor

Every published rating shows the “Last verified” date prominently. If you see a date older than 90 days, that rating is in the queue for re-test.

Frequently asked questions

Why don’t you publish star ratings or letter grades like other sites?

Because they obscure the maths. A 9.2/10 with a published breakdown lets you see exactly where a casino is strong or weak. A “five-star rating” is unfalsifiable marketing.

Do you accept payment to change ratings?

No. We have been asked and we have declined every time. Several operators that paid above-market commissions have lower ratings than ones that pay almost nothing — the rating reflects the data, not the relationship. See affiliate disclosure for the full picture.

Why not score every casino out of 100?

Because the noise floor on a 100-point scale is wider than the meaningful differences. A casino that scores 84 versus one that scores 87 is not measurably different on player experience. A 0-10 scale with one decimal point lines up with what we can actually distinguish.

How do I report an inaccurate review?

Email editor@gambledragon.com with the URL, the specific claim you dispute, and (if relevant) your evidence. We respond within 48 hours and publish corrections with a visible “Updated: ” note on the page.

Do you test casinos that pay you nothing?

Yes. We test brands without affiliate programmes — and brands whose affiliate programmes have rejected us — because they are sometimes the most player-friendly. Our independence is the product.